Yahoo Forum Archive

Hey guys,

Our founder, Ainaechoiriel, used to refer to volunteers as participants
who were insufficiently reluctnat. And as we're coming to the end of
nominations, I want to recognize a few groups that have really gone
above and beyond the call of duty.

BANNER MAKERS

We have several very talented artists who have created (and are still
creating) banners for these awards. There are to date 114 banners for
nominated authors, 39 for people who meet their reviewing goal, and 338
for story winners. And as I said, they are still working on the latter
two types of banners and buttons. These banners were created by

--- Baranduin
--- Cactuskim
--- Eleanor (Elea)
--- Nau_tika

In addition, Beruthiel's Cat and Fiondil have really helped to organize
this portion of the awards. My thanks to all of you.

****************************

AUTHOR LIAISONS

If you had a story nominated, you were assigned a liaison that worked
with you. They answered your questions and also looked over your form to
see if they were filled out correctly. The liaisons are

--- agape4gondor
--- aranelgoldenflower (Lily)
--- brindlemom2
--- Cathleen
--- Dreamflower
--- elea24
--- Elliska
--- Foxrafer (csevans8)
--- Inkling
--- Nancy Brooke

*********************************

PROMOTERS

Throughout the awards, these members periodically make announcements at
groups where they are members. They provide an invaluable service in
getting the word out much better than I ever could. This year's
promoters are

--- agape4gondor @ LOTRFellowship
--- annmarwalk @ tolkien_weekly
--- Branwyn @ Middle-earth News
--- brindlemom2 @ Elrond-Lord of Imladris
--- Cathleen @ LOTR_Community_Gfic; LOTR_Community;
the_community_burrow, Community_Reading_LOTR_v2, and PippinHealers
--- Dawn Felagund @ Silmarillion Writers Guild (site, LJ, and Yahoo group)
--- Dwimordene at Henneth_Annun and Henneth Annun Story Archive
--- Ellie @ Julie_Fianna_Archive, HaldirLovers
--- Inkling @ Stories_of_Arda
--- Larner @ CouncilofElrond, blind-sf, reading4theBlind, blindhorse,
blind-chit-chat, bigtomes
--- Nancy Brooke @ Open Scrolls (site and Yahoo group)
--- Obsidianj @ AragornAngst
--- Tari @ Prim's board

(PS - If you see a group not represented and would like to make
announcements there, drop me a line.)

*********************************

RATINGS PANEL

When there was a concern about what a story should be rated or whether a
warning was appropriate, the ratings panel was the team that looked at
the story and gave me their opinion. Their time commitment and their
willingness to read stuff that might not generally appeal to them allows
us to implement our ratings policies in a fair manner. The ratings panel
included

--- Oshun
--- Raksha the Demon
--- Sulriel

(with annmarwalk willing to serve as an alternate if needed)

*********************************

TECH SUPPORT

Our two very talented and devoted webmasters have put in a serious
amount of effort into improvements to this year's website (some of which
you haven't even seen yet! But they're coming). They've also helped fix
site problems and have served as technical advisors to the liaison team
as we used the site. This is in addition to helping out with special
projects that have come up. The two members of tech support are

--- Aranel Took
--- Tanaqui

*********************************

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Agape4Gondor, Inkling, and Tanaqui really stepped up to the plate when I
was out of town last weekend. Inkling and Agape answered questions at
the support address and this Yahoo group respectively; and Tanaqui sent
out an email to every nominated author.

Elliska processed new memberships - meaning that when you join this
group, she's the one that sets you up an account at the MEFA2008
website. That's a lot of work in itself, but she also investigates
online to try to catch people with more than one name, so they only have
one account. This is on top of also being a liaison with a lot of
authors to help.

Radbooks served as welcome manager this year, which means she answered
questions from new members to the site.

Annmarwalk has agreed to post votes as they become available to this
Yahoo group and to the mefas community.

And for those of you curious as to what I've been doing, I've been
trying to be a jack-of-all trades. I gave nominations a final check-over
before approving them; answered questions that came up; and have been
trying to educate the members about different aspects of the awards
through announcements.

I hope I haven't forgotten anyone, though with such a large group of
volunteers I always seem to overlook someone. It is not an intentional
slight against anyone, and I am always very sorry when I do.

In any event - thanks to all of the many volunteers, named and otherwise!

Marta

Hey Marta,

You forgot to add *Viv *to the list of banner makers even though I sent you
her name.... so I'm going to do it here. And I want to take the moment to
publicly thank all FIVE (or six if we include you Marta *grin*) banner
makers for their excellent work. They have all done a great job at creating
interesting banners for all story types (Silmarillion writers please take
note of the many wonderful Silmarillion-based banners that we have to offer
this year) and being very creative (Kim's animated banners are so cool).

I also want to thank Beruthiel's Cat for helping me out when I needed it
most. Without her, most of these banners would still not be up.

And that's all I'm going to say about it. *grin*

Fiondil
On Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 12:32 PM, melayton@gmail.com <melayton@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hey guys,
>
> Our founder, Ainaechoiriel, used to refer to volunteers as participants
> who were insufficiently reluctnat. And as we're coming to the end of
> nominations, I want to recognize a few groups that have really gone
> above and beyond the call of duty.
>
> BANNER MAKERS
>
> We have several very talented artists who have created (and are still
> creating) banners for these awards. There are to date 114 banners for
> nominated authors, 39 for people who meet their reviewing goal, and 338
> for story winners. And as I said, they are still working on the latter
> two types of banners and buttons. These banners were created by
>
> --- Baranduin
> --- Cactuskim
> --- Eleanor (Elea)
> --- Nau_tika
>
> In addition, Beruthiel's Cat and Fiondil have really helped to organize
> this portion of the awards. My thanks to all of you.
>
> ****************************
>
> AUTHOR LIAISONS
>
> If you had a story nominated, you were assigned a liaison that worked
> with you. They answered your questions and also looked over your form to
> see if they were filled out correctly. The liaisons are
>
> --- agape4gondor
> --- aranelgoldenflower (Lily)
> --- brindlemom2
> --- Cathleen
> --- Dreamflower
> --- elea24
> --- Elliska
> --- Foxrafer (csevans8)
> --- Inkling
> --- Nancy Brooke
>
> *********************************
>
> PROMOTERS
>
> Throughout the awards, these members periodically make announcements at
> groups where they are members. They provide an invaluable service in
> getting the word out much better than I ever could. This year's
> promoters are
>
> --- agape4gondor @ LOTRFellowship
> --- annmarwalk @ tolkien_weekly
> --- Branwyn @ Middle-earth News
> --- brindlemom2 @ Elrond-Lord of Imladris
> --- Cathleen @ LOTR_Community_Gfic; LOTR_Community;
> the_community_burrow, Community_Reading_LOTR_v2, and PippinHealers
> --- Dawn Felagund @ Silmarillion Writers Guild (site, LJ, and Yahoo group)
> --- Dwimordene at Henneth_Annun and Henneth Annun Story Archive
> --- Ellie @ Julie_Fianna_Archive, HaldirLovers
> --- Inkling @ Stories_of_Arda
> --- Larner @ CouncilofElrond, blind-sf, reading4theBlind, blindhorse,
> blind-chit-chat, bigtomes
> --- Nancy Brooke @ Open Scrolls (site and Yahoo group)
> --- Obsidianj @ AragornAngst
> --- Tari @ Prim's board
>
> (PS - If you see a group not represented and would like to make
> announcements there, drop me a line.)
>
> *********************************
>
> RATINGS PANEL
>
> When there was a concern about what a story should be rated or whether a
> warning was appropriate, the ratings panel was the team that looked at
> the story and gave me their opinion. Their time commitment and their
> willingness to read stuff that might not generally appeal to them allows
> us to implement our ratings policies in a fair manner. The ratings panel
> included
>
> --- Oshun
> --- Raksha the Demon
> --- Sulriel
>
> (with annmarwalk willing to serve as an alternate if needed)
>
> *********************************
>
> TECH SUPPORT
>
> Our two very talented and devoted webmasters have put in a serious
> amount of effort into improvements to this year's website (some of which
> you haven't even seen yet! But they're coming). They've also helped fix
> site problems and have served as technical advisors to the liaison team
> as we used the site. This is in addition to helping out with special
> projects that have come up. The two members of tech support are
>
> --- Aranel Took
> --- Tanaqui
>
> *********************************
>
> SPECIAL PROJECTS
>
> Agape4Gondor, Inkling, and Tanaqui really stepped up to the plate when I
> was out of town last weekend. Inkling and Agape answered questions at
> the support address and this Yahoo group respectively; and Tanaqui sent
> out an email to every nominated author.
>
> Elliska processed new memberships - meaning that when you join this
> group, she's the one that sets you up an account at the MEFA2008
> website. That's a lot of work in itself, but she also investigates
> online to try to catch people with more than one name, so they only have
> one account. This is on top of also being a liaison with a lot of
> authors to help.
>
> Radbooks served as welcome manager this year, which means she answered
> questions from new members to the site.
>
> Annmarwalk has agreed to post votes as they become available to this
> Yahoo group and to the mefas community.
>
> And for those of you curious as to what I've been doing, I've been
> trying to be a jack-of-all trades. I gave nominations a final check-over
> before approving them; answered questions that came up; and have been
> trying to educate the members about different aspects of the awards
> through announcements.
>
> I hope I haven't forgotten anyone, though with such a large group of
> volunteers I always seem to overlook someone. It is not an intentional
> slight against anyone, and I am always very sorry when I do.
>
> In any event - thanks to all of the many volunteers, named and otherwise!
>
> Marta
>
>

--
"What part of 'You're dead' don't you understand?" -- Nýmo to an
Unidentified Elven Fýa giving the Lord of Mandos grief

****
Auta i lýmý! Utýlie'n aurý! ý Battle Cry of the Noldor at the Dagor Nirnaeth
Arnediad

Aurý entuluva! ý Battle Cry of Hýrin at the Dagor Nirnath Arnediad

Utýlie'n Estel ý Hope hath come


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Arthur,

I am very sorry for forgetting to mention Viv. I actually was thinking
to myself: "don't forget Viv, don't forget Viv" because I always seem to
skip over her in my mind for some reason (I'm like that with some
people) - and yet, I *still* forgot her. *le sigh* As I said, I apologize.

Thank you for bringing her up, and for offering the second thanks to
Beruthiel's Cat - having just looked through a lot of the banners, I too
am very thankful for having so many nice pieces available.

Marta

Thank Arthur Boccaccio wrote:

> Hey Marta,
>
> You forgot to add *Viv *to the list of banner makers even though I sent you
> her name.... so I'm going to do it here. And I want to take the moment to
> publicly thank all FIVE (or six if we include you Marta *grin*) banner
> makers for their excellent work. They have all done a great job at creating
> interesting banners for all story types (Silmarillion writers please take
> note of the many wonderful Silmarillion-based banners that we have to offer
> this year) and being very creative (Kim's animated banners are so cool).
>
> I also want to thank Beruthiel's Cat for helping me out when I needed it
> most. Without her, most of these banners would still not be up.
>
> And that's all I'm going to say about it. *grin*
>
> Fiondil
> On Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 12:32 PM, melayton@gmail.com <melayton@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hey guys,
>>
>> Our founder, Ainaechoiriel, used to refer to volunteers as participants
>> who were insufficiently reluctnat. And as we're coming to the end of
>> nominations, I want to recognize a few groups that have really gone
>> above and beyond the call of duty.
>>
>> BANNER MAKERS
>>
>> We have several very talented artists who have created (and are still
>> creating) banners for these awards. There are to date 114 banners for
>> nominated authors, 39 for people who meet their reviewing goal, and 338
>> for story winners. And as I said, they are still working on the latter
>> two types of banners and buttons. These banners were created by
>>
>> --- Baranduin
>> --- Cactuskim
>> --- Eleanor (Elea)
>> --- Nau_tika
>>
>> In addition, Beruthiel's Cat and Fiondil have really helped to organize
>> this portion of the awards. My thanks to all of you.
>>
>> ****************************
>>
>> AUTHOR LIAISONS
>>
>> If you had a story nominated, you were assigned a liaison that worked
>> with you. They answered your questions and also looked over your form to
>> see if they were filled out correctly. The liaisons are
>>
>> --- agape4gondor
>> --- aranelgoldenflower (Lily)
>> --- brindlemom2
>> --- Cathleen
>> --- Dreamflower
>> --- elea24
>> --- Elliska
>> --- Foxrafer (csevans8)
>> --- Inkling
>> --- Nancy Brooke
>>
>> *********************************
>>
>> PROMOTERS
>>
>> Throughout the awards, these members periodically make announcements at
>> groups where they are members. They provide an invaluable service in
>> getting the word out much better than I ever could. This year's
>> promoters are
>>
>> --- agape4gondor @ LOTRFellowship
>> --- annmarwalk @ tolkien_weekly
>> --- Branwyn @ Middle-earth News
>> --- brindlemom2 @ Elrond-Lord of Imladris
>> --- Cathleen @ LOTR_Community_Gfic; LOTR_Community;
>> the_community_burrow, Community_Reading_LOTR_v2, and PippinHealers
>> --- Dawn Felagund @ Silmarillion Writers Guild (site, LJ, and Yahoo group)
>> --- Dwimordene at Henneth_Annun and Henneth Annun Story Archive
>> --- Ellie @ Julie_Fianna_Archive, HaldirLovers
>> --- Inkling @ Stories_of_Arda
>> --- Larner @ CouncilofElrond, blind-sf, reading4theBlind, blindhorse,
>> blind-chit-chat, bigtomes
>> --- Nancy Brooke @ Open Scrolls (site and Yahoo group)
>> --- Obsidianj @ AragornAngst
>> --- Tari @ Prim's board
>>
>> (PS - If you see a group not represented and would like to make
>> announcements there, drop me a line.)
>>
>> *********************************
>>
>> RATINGS PANEL
>>
>> When there was a concern about what a story should be rated or whether a
>> warning was appropriate, the ratings panel was the team that looked at
>> the story and gave me their opinion. Their time commitment and their
>> willingness to read stuff that might not generally appeal to them allows
>> us to implement our ratings policies in a fair manner. The ratings panel
>> included
>>
>> --- Oshun
>> --- Raksha the Demon
>> --- Sulriel
>>
>> (with annmarwalk willing to serve as an alternate if needed)
>>
>> *********************************
>>
>> TECH SUPPORT
>>
>> Our two very talented and devoted webmasters have put in a serious
>> amount of effort into improvements to this year's website (some of which
>> you haven't even seen yet! But they're coming). They've also helped fix
>> site problems and have served as technical advisors to the liaison team
>> as we used the site. This is in addition to helping out with special
>> projects that have come up. The two members of tech support are
>>
>> --- Aranel Took
>> --- Tanaqui
>>
>> *********************************
>>
>> SPECIAL PROJECTS
>>
>> Agape4Gondor, Inkling, and Tanaqui really stepped up to the plate when I
>> was out of town last weekend. Inkling and Agape answered questions at
>> the support address and this Yahoo group respectively; and Tanaqui sent
>> out an email to every nominated author.
>>
>> Elliska processed new memberships - meaning that when you join this
>> group, she's the one that sets you up an account at the MEFA2008
>> website. That's a lot of work in itself, but she also investigates
>> online to try to catch people with more than one name, so they only have
>> one account. This is on top of also being a liaison with a lot of
>> authors to help.
>>
>> Radbooks served as welcome manager this year, which means she answered
>> questions from new members to the site.
>>
>> Annmarwalk has agreed to post votes as they become available to this
>> Yahoo group and to the mefas community.
>>
>> And for those of you curious as to what I've been doing, I've been
>> trying to be a jack-of-all trades. I gave nominations a final check-over
>> before approving them; answered questions that came up; and have been
>> trying to educate the members about different aspects of the awards
>> through announcements.
>>
>> I hope I haven't forgotten anyone, though with such a large group of
>> volunteers I always seem to overlook someone. It is not an intentional
>> slight against anyone, and I am always very sorry when I do.
>>
>> In any event - thanks to all of the many volunteers, named and otherwise!
>>
>> Marta
>>
>>
>
>
>

My thanks to all the volunteers, reluctant or not, mentioned or not. I have
enjoyed the MEFAs since I learned of them several years ago; they improve
each year -- but this year, they seem to have made a quantum leap towards
perfection. Well done and thank you all for your contributions!

- Barbara

On Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 12:32 PM, melayton@gmail.com <melayton@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hey guys,
>
> Our founder, Ainaechoiriel, used to refer to volunteers as participants
> who were insufficiently reluctnat. And as we're coming to the end of
> nominations, I want to recognize a few groups that have really gone
> above and beyond the call of duty.
>
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Am forgettable. :)

Seriously. These awards are so slick, I'm happy I can minnow in the school. MEFA has come a long way from hand-tallied spreadsheets. Woot on all y'all who've made that possible.

viv

http://www.livejournal.com/users/spacellama

--- On Sun, 6/22/08, melayton@gmail.com <melayton@gmail.com> wrote:
From: melayton@gmail.com <melayton@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Recognizing the Insufficiently Reluctant
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sunday, June 22, 2008, 9:23 PM











Hi Arthur,



I am very sorry for forgetting to mention Viv. I actually was thinking

to myself: "don't forget Viv, don't forget Viv" because I always seem to

skip over her in my mind for some reason


















[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Viv Am Not Forgettable, lol! She made some lovely banners and I very much
enjoyed seeing what she'd done when Fiondil and I were working on them.
Thanks, Viv!
Also many thanks to everyone for allowing me to be part of the process.
Fiondil didn't have to twist my arm *very* hard, *grin*, and am happy he
thought to include me.
Lovely artwork on the banners, great setup on the site...you folks are all
amazing!

Beruthiel's Cat

----- Original Message -----
From: "Viv" <spacellamaprincess@yahoo.com>
To: <MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2008 11:42 PM
Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Recognizing the Insufficiently Reluctant


> Am forgettable. :)
>
> Seriously. These awards are so slick, I'm happy I can minnow in the
> school. MEFA has come a long way from hand-tallied spreadsheets. Woot on
> all y'all who've made that possible.
>
> viv
>
> http://www.livejournal.com/users/spacellama
>
> --- On Sun, 6/22/08, melayton@gmail.com <melayton@gmail.com> wrote:
> From: melayton@gmail.com <melayton@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Recognizing the Insufficiently Reluctant
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Sunday, June 22, 2008, 9:23 PM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi Arthur,
>
>
>
> I am very sorry for forgetting to mention Viv. I actually was thinking
>
> to myself: "don't forget Viv, don't forget Viv" because I always seem to
>
> skip over her in my mind for some reason
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2008/Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG.
> Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.4.1/1513 - Release Date: 6/22/2008
> 7:52 AM
>
>

And didn't Pearl Took and Dawn do something, umm "Mefa for Dummies"??

Cathleen

Marty <martym@skybest.com> wrote:
Viv Am Not Forgettable, lol! She made some lovely banners and I very much
enjoyed seeing what she'd done when Fiondil and I were working on them.
Thanks, Viv!
Also many thanks to everyone for allowing me to be part of the process.
Fiondil didn't have to twist my arm *very* hard, *grin*, and am happy he
thought to include me.
Lovely artwork on the banners, great setup on the site...you folks are all
amazing!

Beruthiel's Cat

----- Original Message -----
From: "Viv" <spacellamaprincess@yahoo.com>
To: <MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2008 11:42 PM
Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Recognizing the Insufficiently Reluctant

> Am forgettable. :)
>
> Seriously. These awards are so slick, I'm happy I can minnow in the
> school. MEFA has come a long way from hand-tallied spreadsheets. Woot on
> all y'all who've made that possible.
>
> viv
>
> http://www.livejournal.com/users/spacellama
>
> --- On Sun, 6/22/08, melayton@gmail.com <melayton@gmail.com> wrote:
> From: melayton@gmail.com <melayton@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [MEFAwards] Recognizing the Insufficiently Reluctant
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Sunday, June 22, 2008, 9:23 PM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi Arthur,
>
>
>
> I am very sorry for forgetting to mention Viv. I actually was thinking
>
> to myself: "don't forget Viv, don't forget Viv" because I always seem to
>
> skip over her in my mind for some reason
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2008/Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG.
> Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.4.1/1513 - Release Date: 6/22/2008
> 7:52 AM
>
>






"Beautiful, glorious Scotland, has spoilt me for every other country!"

Mary Todd Lincoln


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Barbara,

I feel the need to give Tanaqui and Aranel most of the credit for the
quantum leap. They have made some really awesome changes to the website;
I pretty much have been doing what I've always been doing! But have
perhaps been doing it more affectively because of some tools they gave
me (like a tool that makes it worlds easier to post hard-to-reach
authors' lists).

Fiondil has also done a really spectacular job organizing the banner
makers; I always thought we had such nice banners, but this year hey are
really outdoing themselves.

In any event, thank you! I'm glad you've found the awards so much easier
and better this year.

Marta

Elena Tiriel wrote:

>
>
> My thanks to all the volunteers, reluctant or not, mentioned or not. I have
> enjoyed the MEFAs since I learned of them several years ago; they improve
> each year -- but this year, they seem to have made a quantum leap towards
> perfection. Well done and thank you all for your contributions!
>
> - Barbara
>

Hi Viv,

Viv wrote:

>
>
> Am forgettable. :)
>

Well... maybe not under ordinary circumstances! But with so many things
going on, it's always inevitable that I'll forget about one thing.

> Seriously. These awards are so slick, I'm happy I can minnow in the
> school. MEFA has come a long way from hand-tallied spreadsheets. Woot on
> all y'all who've made that possible.
>

Excellent! I am glad to give you that opportunity. You are right - we
really have come along way. All of you guys really rocky.

Marta

Hi Cathleen,

You are right, I forgot to mention that! Pearl and Dawn wrote a "MEFA
New Members' Guide", affectionately called among the volunteers as "MEFA
for Dummies" when we were writing it (*not* because new members are
dummies, but because the style was patterned after the "... for Dummies"
books).

Thanks to both of you for your hard work on this. It really is a nice
resource. For the interested, you can find it at

http://mefawards.net/MEFA2008/index.php?page=newMembers

or by clicking on "New Members - Start Here" when you log in.

Marta

Cathleen wrote:

>
>
> And didn't Pearl Took and Dawn do something, umm "Mefa for Dummies"??
>
> Cathleen
>

Thank you Marta.

Hummmm.... didn't think about promoting the MEFA's... just discovered it myself.... but I think I will mention it to some of my other yahoo groups. :D

Cactuskim


----- Original Message ----
From: "melayton@gmail.com" <melayton@gmail.com>
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2008 12:32:03 PM
Subject: [MEFAwards] Recognizing the Insufficiently Reluctant


Hey guys,

Our founder, Ainaechoiriel, used to refer to volunteers as participants
who were insufficiently reluctnat. And as we're coming to the end of
nominations, I want to recognize a few groups that have really gone
above and beyond the call of duty.

BANNER MAKERS

We have several very talented artists who have created (and are still
creating) banners for these awards. There are to date 114 banners for
nominated authors, 39 for people who meet their reviewing goal, and 338
for story winners. And as I said, they are still working on the latter
two types of banners and buttons. These banners were created by

--- Baranduin
--- Cactuskim
--- Eleanor (Elea)
--- Nau_tika

In addition, Beruthiel's Cat and Fiondil have really helped to organize
this portion of the awards. My thanks to all of you.

************ ********* *******

AUTHOR LIAISONS

If you had a story nominated, you were assigned a liaison that worked
with you. They answered your questions and also looked over your form to
see if they were filled out correctly. The liaisons are

--- agape4gondor
--- aranelgoldenflower (Lily)
--- brindlemom2
--- Cathleen
--- Dreamflower
--- elea24
--- Elliska
--- Foxrafer (csevans8)
--- Inkling
--- Nancy Brooke

************ ********* ********* ***

PROMOTERS

Throughout the awards, these members periodically make announcements at
groups where they are members. They provide an invaluable service in
getting the word out much better than I ever could. This year's
promoters are

--- agape4gondor @ LOTRFellowship
--- annmarwalk @ tolkien_weekly
--- Branwyn @ Middle-earth News
--- brindlemom2 @ Elrond-Lord of Imladris
--- Cathleen @ LOTR_Community_ Gfic; LOTR_Community;
the_community_ burrow, Community_Reading_ LOTR_v2, and PippinHealers
--- Dawn Felagund @ Silmarillion Writers Guild (site, LJ, and Yahoo group)
--- Dwimordene at Henneth_Annun and Henneth Annun Story Archive
--- Ellie @ Julie_Fianna_ Archive, HaldirLovers
--- Inkling @ Stories_of_Arda
--- Larner @ CouncilofElrond, blind-sf, reading4theBlind, blindhorse,
blind-chit-chat, bigtomes
--- Nancy Brooke @ Open Scrolls (site and Yahoo group)
--- Obsidianj @ AragornAngst
--- Tari @ Prim's board

(PS - If you see a group not represented and would like to make
announcements there, drop me a line.)

************ ********* ********* ***

RATINGS PANEL

When there was a concern about what a story should be rated or whether a
warning was appropriate, the ratings panel was the team that looked at
the story and gave me their opinion. Their time commitment and their
willingness to read stuff that might not generally appeal to them allows
us to implement our ratings policies in a fair manner. The ratings panel
included

--- Oshun
--- Raksha the Demon
--- Sulriel

(with annmarwalk willing to serve as an alternate if needed)

************ ********* ********* ***

TECH SUPPORT

Our two very talented and devoted webmasters have put in a serious
amount of effort into improvements to this year's website (some of which
you haven't even seen yet! But they're coming). They've also helped fix
site problems and have served as technical advisors to the liaison team
as we used the site. This is in addition to helping out with special
projects that have come up. The two members of tech support are

--- Aranel Took
--- Tanaqui

************ ********* ********* ***

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Agape4Gondor, Inkling, and Tanaqui really stepped up to the plate when I
was out of town last weekend. Inkling and Agape answered questions at
the support address and this Yahoo group respectively; and Tanaqui sent
out an email to every nominated author.

Elliska processed new memberships - meaning that when you join this
group, she's the one that sets you up an account at the MEFA2008
website. That's a lot of work in itself, but she also investigates
online to try to catch people with more than one name, so they only have
one account. This is on top of also being a liaison with a lot of
authors to help.

Radbooks served as welcome manager this year, which means she answered
questions from new members to the site.

Annmarwalk has agreed to post votes as they become available to this
Yahoo group and to the mefas community.

And for those of you curious as to what I've been doing, I've been
trying to be a jack-of-all trades. I gave nominations a final check-over
before approving them; answered questions that came up; and have been
trying to educate the members about different aspects of the awards
through announcements.

I hope I haven't forgotten anyone, though with such a large group of
volunteers I always seem to overlook someone. It is not an intentional
slight against anyone, and I am always very sorry when I do.

In any event - thanks to all of the many volunteers, named and otherwise!

Marta


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